INDONESIA HOTLINE

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is apparently satisfied with the inaugural presidential election debate broadcast live Thursday night despite critics that the debate was lame and dull.

Yudhoyono said on Friday before participants of the 2009 national work meeting of the Association of Retired Civil Servants (PWRI) that he was glad the debate ran well.

"Last night - maybe some of you watched it - the debate ran well, thank God. That is in line with the General Elections Commission (KPU)'s regulation," Yudhoyono said Friday at the Presidential Palace.

"In my closing statement I read a poem: From Lahat to Martapura, although we debate we remain brothers and sisters," he added.

Yudhoyono, who seeks for his second five-year term, appeared on Thursday night with former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Jusuf Kalla --his contenders-- in the premier presidential election debate broadcast live by local TV station Trans TV.

The three candidates were engaged in a two-and-half-hour debate, but critics have deemed the show as lame and dull; with all three preferring to appear polite instead of actually debating.

"Competitions could be harsh, but hearts must remain cool and good relations and brotherhood should not be broken,” Yudhoyono said Friday.

"I hope it is this kind of democracy which will flourish in our country," he said.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com